The Kindness of a Stranger

FIRST-PERSON

My beautiful and wonderful sister passed away on July 31st of this year from lung cancer.

She was only 64 years old and recently retired. She was never a smoker. Kristi was my sister and my best friend. We were supposed to grow old together.

Kristi was a teacher and then a principal. She was highly respected and valued by both teachers and administrators.The week before we buried her at Eternal Valley Memorial Park, my other sister and I decided to go in together and buy a nice floral arrangement for the burial. She volunteered to take care of the purchase of the floral arrangement and I would pay her back for half of the flowers.

Well, my sister did not follow through and the evening before the burial I found myself driving the streets of Saugus at 10 p.m. looking for a nice floral arrangement. I went to numerous grocery stores but none of them seemed suitable.

With tears running down my face, I began to drive home feeling discouraged, frustrated, defeated and angry.

As I drove home, I noticed a light on in Charmaine’s Flowers located on Bouquet Canyon Road. I decided to stop to see if anyone was in the shop.

I knocked on the door and a lady came to the door. She must have noticed how upset I was and she kindly unlocked the door and invited me in. She knew nothing about me but she still let me in. I explained my predicament to her and she took my order. She promised to have my floral arrangement ready by 9 a.m. the next day - and here it was after 10 p.m. the night before.

The floral arrangement she created was beautiful and exactly what I wanted for the burial.

Charmaine, the owner of the floral shop, was so very kind, understanding, and accommodating. She truly was an angel in disguise.

I truly believe that God was guiding me and looking over my shoulder that night.

Goodnight my sweet sister - I will miss you the rest of my life - until we meet again.